As Florida-born, Lancashire-based singer-songwriter Savannah Jaine releases her fine new single, ‘Return’, she tells Chris Sharpe about traveling the US and Europe, the pros and pitfalls of the modern music industry and how a hard-of-hearing kitten came to be adopted by her band.
Words by Chris Sharpe
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Chris) Hey Jaine, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What have you been up to over the past year in this big old mess?
Jaine) Hey there, thanks for having me. Lord, what haven’t we been up to? Started last year onboard a Carnival Cruise Ship working as musicians, got stranded there in the quarantine mess, finally got shipped over back to the UK and we’ve just been taking the time to work on getting our original music out into the world!
Country music is new to me but I'm starting to enjoy it. For everyone who should be listening to the gene can you explain what they are missing out on?
I think country music is so much more than what people think – it’s roots, it’s soul, it’s folk; it’s music with feeling and organic instrumentation, really great players. When I lived in Nashville, I never considered myself “country” because I didn’t feel I fit into the commercial “beat-up trucks and red solo cups” vibe but since then I’ve learned that it’s so much more. I grew up listening to Sheryl Crow and Melissa Etheridge and things a bit more alternative, and I think that vibe totally fits into what’s going on in the country world now.
Your new track is called 'Return'. What's the theme behind the songwriting and was it a simple song to write or one you kept coming back to?
‘Return’ is the easiest song I’ve ever written – and that’s because I truly feel I didn’t write this song. This song came to me from the collective, fully formed and I just wrote it down word for word, if that makes sense at all. I heard it all in my head! Sometimes songwriting is pure magic.
You worked with Chris Hope at MilkShed Studios in Lancashire. Tell us about the experience and what did Chris bring to the table?
Milkshed Studios is great. It’s out in the middle of the farmland of central Lancashire. It’s so quiet and peaceful; great for recording. There’s a great ambiance in that place. Chris brought his producing and engineering expertise to our team. My partner Lee had been doing all our production for the past few tunes but it was great for him to have someone else to bounce ideas off. He also helped me a lot with some new vocal ideas and I appreciated that so much. It takes a village, sometimes, to make art really come alive!
How does the UK scene compare to your experience in the US. Do you find your genre is more accepted or does it vary massively from state to state?
It definitely varies from state to state. I prefer living over here because I just love the area that we are in, though I haven’t had the chance to explore the scene too much, with everything that’s gone on this year. I have lived and worked in Nashville, Chicago and New York City and while I love those cities, it was difficult to make a consistent living as a musician as they are completely oversaturated with artists and it feels too competitive. I don’t do well in competitive environments; I always feel like there should be room for everyone. Over the past few years, I’ve found it works best for me to live in a smaller market area and just travel to the bigger cities I love for gigs and festivals.
Have you had the chance to do lots of touring in the past, what was your favourite gig?
We have mostly been contract musicians until now, but I have toured a bit on my own. In 2018 I back-packed Europe and traded my live music for a stay in hostels in several different countries. My favourite place was Scotland. I had a great gig in Glasgow at the Eurohostel and played some really great songwriter nights around town as well. After that gig, I went to Edinburgh and loved that city so much I ended up staying and living there for about three months, just busking on the Royal Mile every day. It was a really spontaneous and fun summer.
Can you tell people who might be coming to Manchester post-Covid what the best venues are in the area?
We haven’t played anywhere in the city yet due to Covid, other than our basement on livestream, which I highly recommend as a venue, chill vibes! Lee says that Manchester Academy is lovely. We also saw Lizzo last year at the O2 Victoria Warehouse and that was life-changing. It’s a fantastic venue in the city.
What changes do you hope for in the music industry?
I think the music industry right now is crazy amazing. It’s never been a better time to be an independent artist, with tiktok and Bandcamp and all kinds of awesome resources out there for the taking. That said, the current state of the music industry is a bit frustrating when your income is solely coming from merch sales and/or streams. We are trying to fund an album basically off what iTunes and Spotify pay us for streams and it’s not cutting it for us right now. But it just means we need to work a bit harder to get those stream numbers up and up – wink wink, nudge nudge.
If you could give advice to musicians with that thought, ‘If I only knew that then’, what would it be?
I spent a long time comparing myself with other artists – comparing my musical journey with others and always feeling like I was coming up short or missing out somehow. I think I’d just tell myself that what makes your journey different is what makes it worth it: it’s yours, and nobody else’s. There’s room for everyone in the music business and the best time to release music is now. Don’t wait for some “perfect time” to put out your art. Your music doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be out so everyone can hear it, relate and listen.
Tell us about your deaf cat, Ringo, I want to meet him!
Ringo Starr is our little joy! Shortly after getting back to England this year, we found him crying in our garden. We took him in and found his owners, returned him but stayed in touch. It turned out that he was jumping in cars and delivery trucks and riding sometimes hours away from home. We think he was more susceptible to getting lost that way since he can’t hear the cars, he has no fear. He ended up miles from home several times! His original family wasn't able to keep him on as a fully indoor kitten, so he became ours, and we love him so much! We’ve leash-trained him now and he goes on walks and hikes with us – safely, now! He’s a big part of our band. He can’t hear any of the music but he feels the good vibes.
What's the plan for the rest of the year?
We’ve been hunkered down here in Lancs and we’ve decided that we quite like it round here - so we’re staying for the time being, and we plan on putting out a new original single once every six weeks. We’re hoping to make enough off the streams/downloads to pay for an EP at the end of the year. We’re on all socials as @SavannahJaine, just trying to grow that following!